7 ms·

Elon is successful yes but why do other men feel the need to stroke him off online all the time? Strange behavior. Are you expecting a kickback?

scotty79 2y ago
I think this is a psychological thing. Humans during evolution were highly rewarded for seeking and keeping powerful allies. So by imagining that Elon is my friend (because I'm his friend) and Elon is really intrinsically powerful (instead of just a lucky, well positioned grifter that can fall from grace at any moment) I can feel better about my own safety. I can feel more powerful by extension and the indirection somehow muddles that fact that it's all made up. The same mechanism works in religious people.
- openrisk 2y ago
  You might be onto something but we need a proper "evolutionary theory of bootlicking" before we get carried away. Its pretty clear that the all-too-common in space and time hierarchies, oligarchies, command-and-control pyramids etc. rely on trickle-down privilege to sustain. But the feeligs of disgust and disbelief at how a person can diminish themselves in the hope of some crumbs falling their way must also have strong evolutionary basis?
  - refurb 2y ago
    I’m not sure I understand your viewpoint. The OP said “the most successful businessman in the world”. Sure one can argue about how OP came to that conclusion, by what measure, etc, but the man produced a highly successful car company, in a field nobody has really been able to do it, under terms where everyone was counting down the days until it went bankrupt. That alone is an amazing feat. Then he went on to create a rocket company that broke barriers of space travel no one has been able to do. Then he started a satellite company that pushed the boundaries of communication for the average person. I’d say all those feats are worthy of praise and make him a person who stands out significantly from any other businessman in recent history. So saying he’s the “most successful businessman” doesn’t seem like an absurd or overly hyperbolic statement. And how you got “stroking off” or the even more absurd “bootlicking” from that statement is just bizarre. I saw zero evidence of either. I’d say your comments are the odd ones here and say more about you than the OP.
    - scotty79 2y ago
      > Then he went on to create a rocket company that broke barriers of space travel no one has been able to do. Look closer into how the sausage is made. For example the Moon grant for SpaceX to the tune of about $3bln was awarded by a person who wrote it in first person singular and after she did it, she promptly quit and went to work for SpaceX. Musk is definitely successful, but a grifter not a businessman. > [...] man produced a highly successful car company Musk is claiming to posess and even selling non-existent technology to both investors and consumers (pre-orders never fullfilled) for almost a decade now. Other people (Theranos, Nikola) who tried to replicate his success in this field but didn't have pants padded with hundred bln$ are curretly serving very long prison sentences for investor fraud. While Musk got off on the grounds that what he says is widely known to be pure puffery and no-one of sound mind should expect what he says to be accurate. Funny how billions "in the bank" can change how justice percieves you. Musk is now basically so full of hot air that when he stumbles he falls up.
      - refurb 2y ago
        As the British would say the proof is in the pudding. I do know we didn’t have self-landing rockets nor a massive reduced cost of space cargo until SpaceX. Whether Musk hired the author of a Moon grant is irrelevant to that fact. Same with Tesla. We had multiple, massively funded car companies try and fail to mass produce an electric car consumers wanted Whether Musk overpromises FSD isn’t relevant to that accomplishment.
        scotty79 2y ago
        We also used to not have have LLMs, bipedal and quadrupedal robots, ubiquitous GPS maps, cell phones, miniature cameras of insane quality, ridiculously fast mobile internet connections, residential fiber and many other useful things. Many smart people make things happen all the time. Regardless of whether there's some singular rich grifter in that specific that can latch onto them soon enough to claim credit or not.
        2y ago
valval 2y ago
I find your view even more perplexing. I get that it’s entirely motivated by anger and contempt, but it’s still weird that someone would get upset over the respect someone else is getting online. I suppose it’s some deep personality trait difference that makes us right wingers appreciate his work and what makes leftists hate his guts.

scotty79 2y ago

I think this is a psychological thing. Humans during evolution were highly rewarded for seeking and keeping powerful allies. So by imagining that Elon is my friend (because I'm his friend) and Elon is really intrinsically powerful (instead of just a lucky, well positioned grifter that can fall from grace at any moment) I can feel better about my own safety. I can feel more powerful by extension and the indirection somehow muddles that fact that it's all made up. The same mechanism works in religious people.

openrisk 2y ago
You might be onto something but we need a proper "evolutionary theory of bootlicking" before we get carried away. Its pretty clear that the all-too-common in space and time hierarchies, oligarchies, command-and-control pyramids etc. rely on trickle-down privilege to sustain. But the feeligs of disgust and disbelief at how a person can diminish themselves in the hope of some crumbs falling their way must also have strong evolutionary basis?
- refurb 2y ago
  I’m not sure I understand your viewpoint. The OP said “the most successful businessman in the world”. Sure one can argue about how OP came to that conclusion, by what measure, etc, but the man produced a highly successful car company, in a field nobody has really been able to do it, under terms where everyone was counting down the days until it went bankrupt. That alone is an amazing feat. Then he went on to create a rocket company that broke barriers of space travel no one has been able to do. Then he started a satellite company that pushed the boundaries of communication for the average person. I’d say all those feats are worthy of praise and make him a person who stands out significantly from any other businessman in recent history. So saying he’s the “most successful businessman” doesn’t seem like an absurd or overly hyperbolic statement. And how you got “stroking off” or the even more absurd “bootlicking” from that statement is just bizarre. I saw zero evidence of either. I’d say your comments are the odd ones here and say more about you than the OP.
  - scotty79 2y ago
    > Then he went on to create a rocket company that broke barriers of space travel no one has been able to do. Look closer into how the sausage is made. For example the Moon grant for SpaceX to the tune of about $3bln was awarded by a person who wrote it in first person singular and after she did it, she promptly quit and went to work for SpaceX. Musk is definitely successful, but a grifter not a businessman. > [...] man produced a highly successful car company Musk is claiming to posess and even selling non-existent technology to both investors and consumers (pre-orders never fullfilled) for almost a decade now. Other people (Theranos, Nikola) who tried to replicate his success in this field but didn't have pants padded with hundred bln$ are curretly serving very long prison sentences for investor fraud. While Musk got off on the grounds that what he says is widely known to be pure puffery and no-one of sound mind should expect what he says to be accurate. Funny how billions "in the bank" can change how justice percieves you. Musk is now basically so full of hot air that when he stumbles he falls up.
    - refurb 2y ago
      As the British would say the proof is in the pudding. I do know we didn’t have self-landing rockets nor a massive reduced cost of space cargo until SpaceX. Whether Musk hired the author of a Moon grant is irrelevant to that fact. Same with Tesla. We had multiple, massively funded car companies try and fail to mass produce an electric car consumers wanted Whether Musk overpromises FSD isn’t relevant to that accomplishment.
      - scotty79 2y ago
        We also used to not have have LLMs, bipedal and quadrupedal robots, ubiquitous GPS maps, cell phones, miniature cameras of insane quality, ridiculously fast mobile internet connections, residential fiber and many other useful things. Many smart people make things happen all the time. Regardless of whether there's some singular rich grifter in that specific that can latch onto them soon enough to claim credit or not.
        2y ago

valval 2y ago

I find your view even more perplexing. I get that it’s entirely motivated by anger and contempt, but it’s still weird that someone would get upset over the respect someone else is getting online. I suppose it’s some deep personality trait difference that makes us right wingers appreciate his work and what makes leftists hate his guts.